Sore ankle when riding

I

islay

New Member
Jun 25, 2016
7
0
1
24
Hi,
I've been riding for about 6 years now so not exactly a new rider but didn't know where to post this.
For a few months now I've been getting a sore right ankle when out riding. Its on the outide of my ankle and doesn't matter whether I'm walking trotting cantering etc. And it's constant.
I've tried adjusting how my foot is in the stirrup but nothing other than taking my foot out the stirrup helps.
I've recently started riding a younger horse (in training) and when he bucks my left foot sometimes comes out the stirrup. I've been told that I'm sitting in the middle but is there anything else that could affect this? I really want it fixed and don't know if I've just got into a bad position and now it's a habit. I'd be really greatful for any advice☺
 
Hello, welcome to NR :)

I too get sore ankles sometimes when riding and usually I find it is due to my hips and knees being a bit tight. Losing your stirrup would also suggest some tension and gripping up, to me.

I find stretching before mounting helps a lot - I do sideways lunges to try to open the hip and then lots of flexing and rotating the ankle and knee. Once mounted, after a few minutes in walk, I start to lift my knees up to the pommel (a bit like a jockey) and then stretch them out to the side and let them drop down with the weight through my heels. I definitely feel the difference when I haven't bothered/had the chance to do this.
 
Last edited:
Have you ever broken or twisted that ankle. When I was young I sprained my ankle so bad I was on crutches for months. I'm told I would have been better to break it. That was 20 odd years ago. The only time I have pain in the ankle is when I ride. If I go out for a couple of hours it's painful. Think it's because I dont flex it if I'm just plodding along.
 
chunky monkey said:
Have you ever broken or twisted that ankle. When I was young I sprained my ankle so bad I was on crutches for months. I'm told I would have been better to break it. That was 20 odd years ago. The only time I have pain in the ankle is when I ride. If I go out for a couple of hours it's painful. Think it's because I dont flex it if I'm just plodding along.
Click to expand...
I've never broken or sprained it but thank you ☺
 
Em 1 said:
Hello, welcome to NR :)

I too get sore ankles sometimes when riding and usually I find it is due to my hips and knees being a bit tight. Losing your stirrup would also suggest some tension and gripping up, to me.

I find stretching before mounting helps a lot - I do sideways lunges to try to open the hip and then lots of flexing and rotating the ankle and knee. Once mounted, after a few minutes in walk, I start to lift my knees up to the pommel (a bit like a jockey) and then stretch them out to the side and let them drop down with the weight through my heels. I definitely feel the difference when I haven't bothered/had the chance to do this.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I'll try this the next time I'm out ☺
 
Pain in the knee or worse still the ankle can be referred pain from the spine. I know because I had serious problems that went un diagnosed. What happens to most people as they age is that the flexible tissue between the vertebrae in your spine get hardened and compressed, trapping the nerves that come from the spine.
It is a natural deterioration but there are ways of adjusting to it. But it can get worse if not treated so I do suggest you talk to your GP about it and get some diagnosis and possibly physio.
If you are spreading your legs to straddle a wide horse like a cob, that could trigger the pain. So can swimming breast stroke.
From my point of view, tho the consultant told me never to ride, I found when I tried it that riding is very beneficial for my back, particularly rising trot.
 
I don't think my left leg is tense
Skib said:
Pain in the knee or worse still the ankle can be referred pain from the spine. I know because I had serious problems that went un diagnosed. What happens to most people as they age is that the flexible tissue between the vertebrae in your spine get hardened and compressed, trapping the nerves that come from the spine.
It is a natural deterioration but there are ways of adjusting to it. But it can get worse if not treated so I do suggest you talk to your GP about it and get some diagnosis and possibly physio.
If you are spreading your legs to straddle a wide horse like a cob, that could trigger the pain. So can swimming breast stroke.
From my point of view, tho the consultant told me never to ride, I found when I tried it that riding is very beneficial for my back, particularly rising trot.
Click to expand...
Im not sure if it's this. I ride a few different horses of various chunkiness and it hurts the same on everyone. Do you think age would make a difference, I'm only 15 so not sure?
 
I didnt know you were so young - none the less I do think it worth consulting your parents and doctor about any ongoing and undiagnosed pain.
If it only hurts when you are sitting astride a horse - not when you walk or run or land on it when dismounted.
It is also possible that at some point you have inured the ankle without realising it. I broke my ankle once out walking a coastal path and didnt realise for three days, when my doctor daughter suggested it. I have also simply sprained an ankle. Whether it is a break of a sprain - you can be warned by medics that you are likely to have on-going pain as a result of the original injury. When you dismount you may be landing more heavilly on one ankle, or stressing an ankle that is already bruised.
Same going when mounting a horse. You are pushing on the left ankle in the stirrup and springing up from the other.
As for the actual riding. You could investigate a bit (if you ride inside a school) by riding without stirrups , or even bareback if properly supervised, to see whether it is stirrup length or position that is hurting your ankles. After riding with no stirrups you will probnably f9ind you need to lengthen your stirrup leathers, as you will have relaxed and lengthened your legs.
You could also consider the boots in which you ride. Our RI does a lot of work with disabled riders and does not like any boot that is rigid or stiff round the ankles. Short boots and half chaps give more freedom. She expects us to be able to rotate our ankles and spread our toes out inside the boot. This has a benefit to our riding because any tension in the rider's body will act like a brake on the horse. So the ideal is for the rider to be as relaxed and flexible as possible.
If you have pain in only one ankle , it could be that you have legs of different lengths, and in that case our RI would lengthen one stirrups and not the other, so the pressure on both your ankles would be evened out as your rode.
But whatever the answer, I do think it important to talk to your parents and doctor if you have any unexplained pain - because no one on an internet forum can give you informed medical advice.
 
Skib said:
I didnt know you were so young - none the less I do think it worth consulting your parents and doctor about any ongoing and undiagnosed pain.
If it only hurts when you are sitting astride a horse - not when you walk or run or land on it when dismounted.
It is also possible that at some point you have inured the ankle without realising it. I broke my ankle once out walking a coastal path and didnt realise for three days, when my doctor daughter suggested it. I have also simply sprained an ankle. Whether it is a break of a sprain - you can be warned by medics that you are likely to have on-going pain as a result of the original injury. When you dismount you may be landing more heavilly on one ankle, or stressing an ankle that is already bruised.
Same going when mounting a horse. You are pushing on the left ankle in the stirrup and springing up from the other.
As for the actual riding. You could investigate a bit (if you ride inside a school) by riding without stirrups , or even bareback if properly supervised, to see whether it is stirrup length or position that is hurting your ankles. After riding with no stirrups you will probnably f9ind you need to lengthen your stirrup leathers, as you will have relaxed and lengthened your legs.
You could also consider the boots in which you ride. Our RI does a lot of work with disabled riders and does not like any boot that is rigid or stiff round the ankles. Short boots and half chaps give more freedom. She expects us to be able to rotate our ankles and spread our toes out inside the boot. This has a benefit to our riding because any tension in the rider's body will act like a brake on the horse. So the ideal is for the rider to be as relaxed and flexible as possible.
If you have pain in only one ankle , it could be that you have legs of different lengths, and in that case our RI would lengthen one stirrups and not the other, so the pressure on both your ankles would be evened out as your rode.
But whatever the answer, I do think it important to talk to your parents and doctor if you have any unexplained pain - because no one on an internet forum can give you informed medical advice.
Click to expand...
Thank you ☺☺
 
Could you perhaps be unconsciously putting too much weight down your right leg and into your foot? That would also explain why your left foot loses the stirrup sometimes. A good exercise to find out if you're very one-sided is to take one foot out of its stirrup and try rising trot. Then change over. When I did this it was astonishing - with my left foot I could rise perfectly, but as soon as I switched to my right foot I couldn't rise out of the saddle so much as a fraction. Try it and see. Also, no-stirrup work is brilliant for levelling you up a bit (if that does turn out to be the problem of course!)
 
hormonalmare said:
Could you perhaps be unconsciously putting too much weight down your right leg and into your foot? That would also explain why your left foot loses the stirrup sometimes. A good exercise to find out if you're very one-sided is to take one foot out of its stirrup and try rising trot. Then change over. When I did this it was astonishing - with my left foot I could rise perfectly, but as soon as I switched to my right foot I couldn't rise out of the saddle so much as a fraction. Try it and see. Also, no-stirrup work is brilliant for levelling you up a bit (if that does turn out to be the problem of course!)
Click to expand...
Thank you ☺ ill try the rising trot with one stirrup
 
Take care rising with one stirrup. Long ago I hacked with an RI who made me rise with the weight in my weak left leg and the next day I was in bad pain. Pain can be a warning that something is wrong. Coincidentally my own ankle hurt while riding this week. I tripped on a step while on holiday and thought nothing of it. We walked many miles. No pain. But out riding it hurt enough to worry me.
 
chunky monkey said:
Have you ever broken or twisted that ankle. When I was young I sprained my ankle so bad I was on crutches for months. I'm told I would have been better to break it. That was 20 odd years ago. The only time I have pain in the ankle is when I ride. If I go out for a couple of hours it's painful. Think it's because I dont flex it if I'm just plodding along.
Click to expand...
Well this makes sense for me as I've sprained both of my ankles 11 times between the two...the right one has been sprained more frequently and severely than the left though, and I've noticed I get some pain in that ankle when riding, but not the left. Is there anything that can be done to remedy this or should I just deal? To be honest, I'm so used to ankle soreness, I didn't really think twice about it until I saw this forum...
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back